Guardians Book 2, Ch 1: Tension and Training

Read All of Book 2: Here

Three men surrounded Esmun, their eyes glowing with Taulaga Sacrifices and their fists clenched. Esmun stood with his sword ready, blue blade shining in the sunlight.

“Remember,” he muttered to himself, “make it quick, and don’t permanently injure them; they aren’t thinking straight.”

One of the men charged forwards, and Esmun crouched. He leaps and tries to plant his feet on the man’s shoulders. His left foot slips, and he goes tumbling forward, managing to turn his fall into a somersault and get back up at the last moment. He had been trying that move since Legion used it to drive him to the floor that night in the warehouse, but he could never land it right.

The man turned around, and Esmun found himself in between the three of them.

“No Summon unless absolutely necessary. We don’t know where their artifacts are, so we just have to hold their attention until the sacrifice wears off or just knock them out of the fight,” he muttered to himself. He slowly turned, looking around at the three attackers. Suddenly one stepped forward and kicked the Blue Guardian in the chest, sending him flying back. Landing on his but he heard his sword skitter across the stone floor away from him.

“For the love of Failoga,” Esmun cursed. Springing to his feet, he blocked a punch and took a swing at the man’s face. While he was nowhere near Fremont’s level of expertise when it came to hand-to-hand combat, he was good enough. He remained light on his feet, ducking under the men’s fists and returning the hits with quick jabs at his opponents.

As he fought, he stole quick glances around the room, eventually locating his sword in one corner. The men were bigger and heavier than him, so he most likely had them beat in the speed category. But running for his sword would leave him quite literally cornered unless he could run, pick up his sword, and get back to an advantageous position before the three Human Idemoni were on top of him again.

The Guardian was sent sprawling as a punch made contact with his face. Trying to ignore his watering eyes, he focused on the man who punched him.

“Ok, we’re running out of options. It’s time to fight dirty.”

Esmun charged the man, who raised his fists again. When he swung, Esmun fell into a slide and sprang up from below him, getting a clear shot at his jaw, knocking the man down.

One down, two to go.

Esmun turned around, ready to face the remaining opponents.

And got punched in the stomach.

He was sent flying across the room and slammed into the wall. Crumpling onto the stone floor, the three men faded away. The blue crystal on the pedestal went black as the training fight ended.

“You failed.” Mphu Lonix said simply.

“What do you mean I failed?” Esmun protested, “It was just one hit.”

“A hit you have still failed to recover from.” Lonix responded, “if the simulation was still active or if this was a real scenario, you would have been destroyed by the Taulaga users.

Esmun groaned and struggled to his feet. Mphu Lonix looked at him sadly.

“Esmun, you’ve been training for hours. I can tell you’re tired. You’re done for the night.

“Done?!” Esmun said, “Mphu, I can’t end on a failure!”

“You have improved, Esmun, you have yet to win in a four-on-one situation, but you have gotten better. You’re reaching the point where your exhaustion will only slow you down. At this point, it’s best to quit while you’re ahead.”

“One more try.” Esmun pleaded.

“No.” Lonix responded, “I say you are done for the day, now either go to your room and rest or go to your Elixir Brewery and work on something that isn’t fighting-related.

Esmun sighed before bowing to Lonix.

“Yes, Mphu,” He grumbled. Turning around, he walked out of the training room as Lonix turned his attention to the dead gem.

“Do you think Creator Xinar is mad at us?” Warinot asked. The two were in Esmun’s Elixir Brewery, Esmun leaning over a small set of glass bottles as Warinot sat and watched,

“I mean, I would be surprised if he wasn’t at least disappointed by our performance,” Esmun responded. He used a tube to pour a small amount of pink powder into the concoction, and the liquid in the potion turned a brilliant purple.

“It’s been nearly a month now, though. Is he seriously still that upset?” Warinot asked. Esmun covered the bottles in a green sheet and hung them over a fire. Walking to a woodpile, he shrugged.

“I don’t know, and we can’t know until he tells us,” he responded. Stoking the fire, he checked the temperature constantly, using the wood and an air pump to regulate it, “And I get the feeling he won’t tell us until Legion and Shado are caught.”

Warinot nodded. The two had simply vanished after the night in the warehouse. The Creator had upped the number of guards in Ealganheart Harbor but couldn’t raise them anymore without causing suspicion. He and the Familiar had opted not to tell the public about the events that took place out of fear of causing alarm. They wanted to have both the Idemoni in their custody before the public learned what truly started that fire.

What are you making, by the way?” Warinot asked. Esmun looked back at his potion book.

“Well, uh… It’s called a Sanine Elixir. It helps the person drinking it sleep.” he responded.

“Oh…” Warinot said, “Are you having trouble getting to sleep?”

Esmun instinctively grabbed his stomach. Every night the nightmares ended the same way, with the red sword plunging through his torso. Staring straight forward for a second, he shook his head.

“Nah, nothing like that. I’m trying to boost effects, but changing the recipe around with sleep elixirs could be dangerous. So I’m making sure I know exactly how each step affects the end result so I can begin making alterations without putting myself into a coma.” He lied.

“Oh cool,” Warinot replied, “that makes sense. Where did this recipe come from?”

Esmun took the bottles away from the fire and uncovered them. The color had changed to a pale blue that shone in the dim torchlight. He smiled as he held four good night rests in his hands.

“The man I worked with before becoming Guardian,” he said, “Adul.”

Warinot nodded as Esmun put the potions down onto a counter top.

“That’s fun,” he said. Esmun nodded and closed his book. Stifling a yawn, he gave Warinot a smile.

“Wanna train for a bit?”

Book 2, Ch 2: Here